How to get a breastfed baby to take a bottle

My two children never would take a bottle, and it wasn’t for any lack of trying on my part. When our friend Crystal asked about any magic strategies that would get her third baby to accept a bottle, I sent her a list of ideas in hopes that at least one of mine would be one that she had not yet tried.

My bottle-refusal story

My husband Ryan got traumatized by trying to give the baby the bottle and having him scream his head off, so after many consecutive attempts in our process of getting ready for me to go back to work, he sort of gave up and then later blamed himself for this no-bottle-taking baby problem which lasted for 8 months. While he blamed himself, it was actually my problem to solve, because who was taking the boobs to work with her everyday?

Yep, at 4 months old, I went back to work for half-days, five days a week, and left my nanny to try all methods of bottle feeding for four hours. She ended up spoon-feeding him breast milk from a bowl with a tiny infant spoon. She was able to get about an ounce in him that way. By 5 months old, we agreed to sprinkle a little rice cereal into it so that it had more calories and stayed on the spoon better. At 6 months old, I extended my work hours to a 6 hour day, and she’d give him rice cereal in a bowl, attempt the bottle ordeal, and then a little actual food, ie avocado or banana. At 8 months, he was eating solids just fine and I told her to forget about the bottle and let’s just move towards the sippy cup.

Bottle-feeding strategies worth trying for breast-obsessed infants

non-breastfeeding parent gives bottle in cradle position

breastfeeding parent gives bottle in cradle position

non-breastfeeding caregiver tries while mom leaves house with other children

while driving/carseat (mom drives, parent #2 sits in back and gives bottle)

while facing out in a front carrier

facing out in a front carrier outdoors

when baby is very hungry

when baby is not at all hungry, ie right after nursing

different nipples, including latex and silicon, symmetrical like avent and mouth-shaped like mam/nuk

while baby is sleeping, shove it in her mouth and see if you can activate sucking reflex

I was so happy to get an update from Crystal this week, letting us know that her daughter had finally begun accepting a bottle.

What worked? A trick I didn’t have access to with my rookie baby: Crystal’s six-year old son gave his baby sister a bottle. Her middle son got a chance as well.

Here’s what she said about Baby Vivian’s experience taking a bottle from her brothers:

She was so distracted and fascinated by them that she forgot to fight it and took her first bottle from them. That helped her get over the initial hump and indicated to us that she could do it.

Then getting to her with the bottle before she was the least bit cranky. If she was fussy in the slightest there was no way she was taking it.

She refused for a long time to take it from Daddy but we tried at the same time everyday. For weeks she fussed, took two sips then refused the rest. Then one day she drank the whole thing. I think it was the consistency? She eventually got used to the idea?

We tried a few different models but of course, she took to the Playtex nurser.

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents and are the authors of The Rookie Mom's Handbook and Stuff Every Mom Should Know.

My pediatrician said it was important to introduce the bottle before 8 weeks of age. The younger they are, the more likely they are to accept the bottle. I did that with both of my boys and it worked. My first son would not accept a bottle from my husband in the beginning, but he took it from me as long as I walked around the house continually, distracting him with things to look at. He was also very particular about nipple shape – he only liked the wide nipples. My second son accepted the bottle right away without any problems.

Mine refused bottles after taking them while in the hospital(both spent a few weeks in the NICU or PICU). With our first we were starting to spend so much trying different bottles but then I realized I was staying home and was always there….lucky for us we could give up the fight! With the second, we gave up very easy and I was just fine being the 24 he buffet…

my daughter did take a bottle when she was about 6 weeks old, so I thought we were fine… then I tried again at 11 weeks (three weeks before she started daddy-care and then daycare), and she refused. We tried every shape of nipple, every temperature of milk, every state of hungryness(?) and tiredness. nothing. Then, on my first day back at university, she took the bottle. Two things had changed: my husband walked around while giving her the bottle, and there was no backup-plan, her only choice was being hungry for the next six hours. since that day, she accepts the bottle (even when she’s not carried around while eating)